I was at the gym tonight, and while I was doing my warm up and stretches, I looked up to one of the TVs to see coverage about ISIL/ISIS. Then, I started thinking about the things I have seen on Reddit about their victims, and who they’re killing, and the people they’ve paraded before putting into mass graves…

My blood started to boil. But it wasn’t just about that. I was looking at a part of the human race that has devolved into this kind of senseless intent. It feels like they are hiding behind the mask of Islam– they’re not fighting for it, they’re using it as an excuse to massacre people.

So, I am writing this from the cruising altitude for a Boeing 737-800 on my five hour flight to Boston. I managed to get the emergency exit aisle with only one other person for this five-hour flight, and I have plenty of room– probably the most I have ever had outside of first class. I have music in my ears, and I am well rested and ready to tackle the next work project.

But, I left Seattle. And I feel a bit of myself staying behind each time. Read more

So, I’m running around in California right now, near San Jose. I decided after work today that I was gonna go to Hooters. I had thought on it a bit, and thought, Fuck it. Why not? Cute girls, and the food is passable and much cheaper than anything around me.So I went. I had stopped going there because one particular incident just made me disgusted with the people that typically attend, but I threw it out the window a bit ago, because it stirred some memories and emotions that helped me heal some.

Nothing eventful happened. I had a ten-piece of wings, a salad and a piece of pie. I chatted with the girl waiting on me about travel and what the rush hour was like around here, so I could gauge when to head back to my hotel. I got my check, and I was placing my card on it so it could be cashed out.

Not long after, I saw this guy walk in. He was Hispanic, wearing a “Patriot” shirt that he was occasionally checking on to make sure was clean, some cargo shorts and sandals. Older guy, thinning hair on top, and he was occasionally talking to himself and looking at different people in the restaurant with bewildered eyes. The waitress came up to him, and I could tell that she was slightly uncomfortable, albeit kind and polite. No doubt it wasn’t her first time dealing with someone who was off, but the results may have been radically different last time.

She got his order, and she returned briefly with a key lime pie. And he began eating it, and was still occasionally talking to himself and looking around while taking a few bits of his pie at a time. I figured he was savoring it.

But his eyes made me wonder what had happened. Was it something he had seen? A bad drug trip? My mind began to wonder, and I started placing myself in his shoes, and began to wonder how it must be for him day in and day out. Read more

Sometimes, I wish I would not hunger– that I would not need food, or drink, and could live by exploration alone. That wherever I went, I’d stand against whatever elements could throw at me, but still be vulnerable to man and beast. My mortality only realized by the threat of something else living, and not my own need to live. Read more

I was out shopping, and had managed to get most of my groceries loaded into the cart. I had picked up an extra-huge package of toilet paper because I didn’t feel like bearing the burden of using paper towels for a while. I had finished there, and went to the toothpaste aisle. I was needing a few new toothbrushes, and brushed myself past a few people as I approached them.

I had stooped over slightly to look at the bristle toughness. I typically went with mediums, and was looking for them. I found them. Then, out of nowhere, I stood still, and my mind wandered to points more recently in my life, within the last few years. Read more